


With Me

by AwesomeGeek



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Smallville
Genre: F/M, Not just the Queen of the Slayers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-02-27
Updated: 2013-02-27
Packaged: 2017-12-03 19:35:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/701873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AwesomeGeek/pseuds/AwesomeGeek
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Queen returns home to save... a Queen?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer:** Smallville and all related characters are copyright Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, DC  & The CW Network. Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all related characters are copyright Joss Whedon and ME. No infringement intended. I own nothing! 
> 
> This was a plot bunny that just wouldn't go away.   
> I haven't left this fic for good but i have taken a break from it for a while.

[ ](http://s933.beta.photobucket.com/user/AwesomeGeek/media/With%20Me%20Story%20Art/WithMeBanner2.jpg.html)

**Prologue**

“He needs your help.” Chloe Sullivan’s voice resonated from Buffy’s cell phone, making her entire body freeze.

No hello? How are you? Just four simple words, which were now forcing memories long since buried to come rushing back; of a marriage full of secrets and lies and a life she had tried to forget. She should have learned that nothing ever stays buried forever. 

She could hear Chloe’s tired sigh down the end of the line, bringing her out of her thoughts. She was their last hope. 

“I’m on my way,” she said and hung up. 

Nothing is ever simple.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

It had to be all business; she couldn’t make this personal.

Buffy stood and looked up at the building before her; it still looked the same. She remembered the last time she saw it; it was the day she had left Metropolis -- the last time she saw _him_. 

She had to thank Willow for being able to get her back here in quick time and without asking questions; she knew Buffy had been desperate to have asked at all. Faith, on the other hand, had wanted to come with her but understood that Buffy had to do this on her own… she just didn’t have to be happy about it. 

“Well, time to get this over and done with,” Buffy sighed deeply. Pulling her coat around herself tightly, she made her way inside.

***

“He’s going to kill you and then he’s going to kill me… and I didn’t even call her! All I did was walk in and overhear you, but he won’t care… nope, I’m a dead man,” Bart Allen rambled as he paced back and forth behind Chloe, his hand constantly running through his hair. He was panicking, and it wasn’t because Oliver was missing; now he actually considered the fact that Oliver was missing to be the best scenario. At least then he couldn’t kill the both of them. 

Chloe held back a laugh. “Did you know that you talk almost as fast as you run?”

Bart stopped pacing and faced her. “Not funny ‘licious. You know this is the last thing he would have wanted!”

Sighing, Chloe turned back towards the numerous computer screens behind her. She knew what making that phone call would mean, but she had no other choice -- no one could find him. They had searched the entire planet and there was no trace of him. It was now twelve hours since he had vanished from patrol and they still had no information. 

“Oliver doesn’t always know what’s good for him. Besides, if we can’t find him then maybe she can.”

“How? Tell me how Buffy can find Oliver when we can’t?” Bart questioned her. He had been continually asking her this since he walked in on her calling Buffy, and no matter what she told him, he still wasn’t happy with the answer.

Chloe turned to face Bart again. “I told you, she has… other ways of finding people.” Bart gave her a sceptical look, which made her frown. “Don’t look at me like that! Wouldn’t you rather we try everything we can to get him back?”

Bart nodded solemnly, “Yeah, but not like this. She shouldn’t have to come back like this.”

“Then she would never have come back,” Chloe pointed out. 

Bart shrugged and shook his head, “You don’t know that.”

“Yes, I do. It’s been two years, Bart. She was never coming back.” 

“You can think what you want, but we optimists like to think a little differently.”

“Yeah, and we realists do, too.”

Bart was about to retort when they both heard the elevator doors opening behind them. They both froze; then Bart made sure that Chloe was safely behind him before making his way to the elevator, silently berating himself that he hadn’t heard anyone coming up whilst he was arguing with Chloe. Peering around the corner, he caught sight of black heeled boots, dark tight jeans and a long black jacket. The intruder had their back to him so all he could really see was long, blonde curly hair; her voice gave her away, though.

“Hello?” he heard her call out. “You do know it’s rude to not greet your guests!”

He smiled. Yep, that was definitely the Buffy he remembered. 

Bart carefully stepped out from around the corner, coming up behind her to say hello. Before he could speak, however, she spun and grabbed him around the throat.

“Buff, Buff, it’s me Bart,” he choked out. He felt the grip around his throat loosen. 

“Bart?” She stepped back away from him, shock in her eyes. “I’m sorry! Are you ok?”

“Yeah. I guess rule number one is never sneak up on a slayer. Damn, you are fast, Buff!” Bart gently rubbed his throat. “Strong too.”

Before Buffy could apologise again, she felt another presence behind her. Turning, she came face to face with Chloe, and she was sad to see that this wasn’t the same woman she had been close with all those years ago. No, she could see that this Chloe was a little harder around the edges. 

“Hi,” Chloe smiled weakly. 

“Hey, yourself,” Buffy smiled back, a bit hesitantly. 

“Wow, with all the awkwardness in this room, you would think you’ve been gone two years, Buff,” Bart joked, as he stood between the two. 

Buffy rolled her eyes. “And here’s me thinking you missed me,” she said dryly. 

“We all did.” Chloe said. 

Buffy gulped; she hadn’t been expecting that answer. After all, she had left two years ago without a backwards glance. She hadn’t meant to stay away for so long, but as time passed it had gotten easier to think they were better off without her, that he was better off.

Giving herself a mental shake, Buffy eyed Chloe. “You didn’t ask me here to remember the good times. What’s happened and why do you think I can help?”

Chloe gestured for Buffy to follow her. “It was a routine patrol, nothing out of the ordinary. Oliver…” Chloe glanced at Buffy, noting the flicker of emotion crossing her features. “He was on his way back here when he suddenly just disappeared. His comm went down right after that, then his GPS.”

“You wouldn’t be calling me if this was a simple disappearance. What else?” Buffy asked, eyeing the screens in front of her. 

“I have everyone canvassing his last known location but it’s clean, no evidence of any kind that anything even happened there. Whoever… _whatever_ took him has made it impossible for any of us to track him. I called you as you may be able to help,” Chloe explained. “This isn’t normal for us. We always have something, some piece of the puzzle that we can work with, but this time there’s nothing. It’s as if he was there one minute and then gone the next.”

“If you can’t find him with all your gizmos and gadgets, then pray tell, how do you expect me to?” Buffy questioned. 

“I hacked your file,” Chloe confessed. She paused for a moment, seeing Buffy’s eyes narrow. “All of it,” she finished. 

“And now you think you know everything about me? Is that it?” Buffy replied harshly. 

Chloe shook her head. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say your file probably doesn’t do you justice, but it did say that you were experienced with…magic.”

Buffy tried hard not to laugh; so that’s why she had been asked to come back. “I don’t do magic, but I’ve had my ass kicked by it more times than I care to remember. Why would you think magic could find him?”

“Nothing else has worked.” 

Buffy sighed; she knew Chloe would have tried everything before even contemplating calling her. The fact that she had came help was testament that she still cared about them. 

“You don’t know what you are asking for, Chloe. It’s not easy as you think it is,” Buffy warned her. 

“Why do you think I called you?” Chloe shouted, her frustration at the current situation finally showing.

“Do I look like Glinda the good witch to you, Chloe? Sorry, but there’s no magic wand. I can’t just cast a spell and poof Ollie just appears out of nowhere,” Buffy bit back before letting out a small gasp; she’d slipped up and finally said his name. Dammit! Keeping it all business just flew right out the window.

“Then what do you suggest, _Queen_ of the Slayers?” Chloe smirked, not even trying to hide her sarcasm. 

“Guys, I think you may want to take this,” Bart interrupted. He handed Chloe her cell phone. “I suppose you didn’t hear it over all the yelling,” he commented, shrinking back when both women glared at him. 

Buffy watched as Chloe typed something on the computer. “Hello?” she asked out loud.

“Chloe Sullivan, it’s a pleasure.” A distorted voice echoed around them.

“Who are you? What do you want?”

“Does it really matter?” 

“It does if you don’t want me to hang up.”

“Then how are you going to save your little green friend?”

Buffy snorted, causing Chloe to glare at her. “What?” Buffy said defensively. “Would you really describe him as ‘little’?”

“And who are you?” The voice sounded intrigued at having a new player in his or her little game.

Buffy watched as Chloe began to type furiously on the keyboard. Bart pointed to the screen so she could see that Chloe was trying to locate where the call was coming from; he then motioned for her to keep the mysterious person talking. Buffy nodded in understanding. 

“You tell me yours and I’ll tell you mine,” she offered blithely.

When the voice spoke again, she could detect they were smiling. 

“Nice try, I like you.”

“I’m touched, really. Now where is he?” Buffy asked. 

“And why should I tell you? What are you going to do for me?”

Chloe and Bart could only watch in fascination as Buffy continued to talk to the mysterious voice, her demeanour calm as she paced back and forth. 

“How about a trade, him for me?” Buffy proposed, her voice neutral. 

A laugh echoed through Watchtower. Bart grabbed Buffy’s arm, he shook his head and mouthed ‘no’.

“You? What makes you so special?”

“Look me up. Slayer, comma, the.”

“There are hundreds of slayers. So I’ll ask again, what make you so special?”

Buffy stopped pacing, surprise evident on her face. _He knows about slayers?_

“I’m the original,” she stated.

An eerie silence fell upon them as the person on the other end of the comm contemplated the deal that had been laid on the table.

“You can’t do this. I didn’t ask you to come here to do this,” Chloe whispered. She was still concentrating on the computer screens. 

“You asked me to help him, so I am. Can you think of any better ideas?” Buffy whispered back. 

“If anything happened to you, he’d never forgive me.”

Bart watched as Buffy looked away, lost in her own thoughts. 

“He won’t know,” she said simply. Then she turned to look from Chloe to Bart. “You never called me, I was never here. Do you understand?”

Chloe and Bart exchanged looks before they both nodded in agreement; they could see Buffy had her mind set and nothing they could have done or said would change it. 

Just then, the voice came back, having made up his or her mind.

“You have a deal, Slayer. Coordinates have been sent to Miss Sullivan. Come alone.”

Chloe’s cellphone beeped, signifying that it had received a message. Chloe picked it up and gave it a quick glance before handing it to Buffy. Buffy read the information as she asked, “And your end of the bargain?”

“It will be kept.” 

Buffy let out a breath she didn’t know she had been holding. Looking to Chloe, she saw the blonde shake her head to indicate that she hadn’t been successful in finding anything. Her head snapped up when the voice spoke up again. 

“Before I go, do I finally get to know the name of the woman trading herself for Oliver Queen?”

“Buffy Summers…” She gave Chloe and Bart one last glance. “Queen.”


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You will notice that I 'borrowed' a scene from Season 10, episode 1 of Smallville. A HUGE thank you to Akat and Kerry! Also a thank you to all of you who reviewed! I'm sorry it has taken so long to update but RL has been kicking my ass. I hope you enjoy this! For those of you who are reading, If We Ever Meet Again, I am in the process of finishing the next chapter! Just to let you know that an awesome friend of mine, Bells has made 2 vids based on my fics. You need to check them out! [If We Ever Meet Again](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBmM_S4T3dY) and [With Me](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZvFATZ_-No).

**Chapter 2**

“OK, we have co-ordinates at least… it’s not much but it’s a start,” Buffy said. “I’m gonna need a ride though.”

Bart stepped forward. “I can take you,” he offered.

Buffy smiled and replied, “You misunderstand, I don’t need a lift; I need a ride.” 

Chloe tossed a set of car keys towards her and nodded at Buffy. Secretly she knew that she wasn’t likely to get the car back.

“When I leave and Ollie is safe, call this number.” Buffy retrieved a folded piece of paper from her jacket pocket and handed it to Bart. “Tell them what happened. They’ll know what to do next. Don’t worry, I promise I’ll get him back.”

She nodded her goodbye to Bart and Chloe and walked out Watchtower. She headed towards the parked cars, pressing the button on the key fob a set of headlights blinked in the darkness, giving away the position of the car. She climbed in to the driver’s seat and took a deep breath. She turned the key in the ignition and the engine roared in to life. Pulling out and accelerating out of the car park, she disappeared in to the night.

As she approached the drop off point, Buffy couldn't see any lights or life of any kind. She wasn't familiar with the area but the GPS on the dashboard was keeping her right, occasionally offering directions in a bland, asexual voice. 

She pulled the car into an empty car park and made her way to the far eastern corner, coming to a stop under a streetlight that was casting a hazy orange circle of light around her. As she stepped out of the car she surveyed the area but still couldn't see any movement. She reached back in to the car and pulled out a piece of paper that they had written the directions on... _'This is definitely the place, so where are they?'_

She was suddenly very aware that she wasn’t alone and turned quickly towards the darkness beyond her circle of light. The first voice she heard was a man’s: he sounded like he was on forty plus cigarettes a day and was particularly hoarse, croaking his commands as if they brought him pain: “Walk forward. If you make a sound then I’ll shoot… and you really don’t want me to do that.”

Buffy squinted in to the darkness but could not make out his face. 

“No games sweetheart! Close your eyes and put your hands out in front of you!” he demanded. “Oh yeah, just in case you want to play the hero, I’m not alone. If anything happens to me or my men then your pretty little billionaire will be delivered to his friends in a shoebox!”

Buffy scowled but did as instructed and closed her eyes. She held her arms out in front of her and waited. The man moved forwards and placed a bag over her head before using a length of rope to tie her wrists together. It crossed her mind to just break the ropes and beat her kidnappers to a gooey pulp… at the very least until they told her where Oliver was. The only thing stopping her, the only reason she was going through with this charade at all in fact, was to get Oliver back safely. The croaky little man had made it quite clear that would not happen if she didn’t play by their rules.

Once they had her bound, they lead her to their own car and pushed her in to the back seat, holding her head down to avoid her smacking it on the roof of the car as she entered. She landed sideways on the seat and could feel them pushing her legs up towards her so that they could close the car door. Buffy took in every smell and sound that she could, filing them away for later when she would need them. The rest of this leg in her journey was been uneventful and they made their way towards the destination in silence. After what must have been at least 30 minutes, she felt the car slowing down and pulling in. The driver stepped out and moments later the door next to her popped open.

“Get out!” he prompted, leaning in and pulling her to her feet by her left arm. “Remember, no heroics! Now, walk.”

Buffy nodded to indicate that she understood. As her kidnapper let go of her arm, she quickly regained her balance and walked forward. She kept her pace slow, careful not to fall over as she could feel the ground was uneven beneath her feet.

Buffy sensed movement in front of her and slowed down instinctively, thinking she was going to walk into someone or something. She could hear footsteps making their way towards her, three sets at least. She was suddenly very aware that they were upon her, but they passed by without making contact. The air whipped up around her as they did, and the unmistakable smell of blood wafted past on the night’s air, tinged with the equally pungent stench of sweat. Buffy tried to turn towards the sound of the footsteps as she realised that it must have been Ollie. The two men at her sides struggled to turn her back around.

Her instincts screamed at her to break free, to tear her captors apart and leave with their hostage. She battled against the urge to give in to the temptation. The simple fact was that she didn’t know if they were armed or if Ollie was drugged or even conscious. She wasn’t even sure that they didn’t have a contingency plan for that exact occurrence. All she knew was that it was too dangerous and that the risk was too high.

She felt herself getting pushed forwards and a new captor took a firm grip of her arm, just below the elbow. 

She felt his breath on her ear and heard him take a deep breath as he sniffed her hair, “Let’s hope you’re everything he said you are!”

Buffy remained resolute but felt a pin prick in to the back of her neck, as the world began to swirl around her one thought resonated through her mind in response.

_You have no idea!_

She passed out.

 

***

Oliver Queen nervously drummed his fingers on his desk; his mind kept flicking back over the recent events. They were still no closer to finding out who had taken him, but now at least he knew why.

Information.

Chloe and Bart had explained to him about everything that had happened while he had been held hostage. They had explained how they had received a ransom call from his captors with demands for all the Justice’s Intel, including upcoming plans. The mysterious kidnappers had also made it quite clear that they knew more than they should have about the Justice League and that failure to meet their demands would not only mean death for Oliver but also exposure of the League to the rest of the world. Chloe had agreed, while Bart had been the one to drop off the package.

Oliver had been unceremoniously dumped on the steps of Watchtower later that same day; it was then that he had found out what had transpired in his absence. Chloe had complied with the kidnappers demands and had given them everything that they had wanted… and more. She had secretly installed a virus on to two of the hard drives they had taken that would destroy everything in its wake if the information on the drives was accessed. Although he had wanted to find out who had taken him, he liked knowing that his captors had failed to get away with what they wanted. Now he just needed to make sure it didn’t happen again… for all their sakes. 

Oliver had tried to remember the details of where he had been held; unfortunately, as he had been drugged and tied up with a bag placed on his head, there wasn’t a lot to go on. He did know that his hosts had not been all that hospitable; leaving him with a number of bruised and swollen souvenirs as well as a deep gash down his left shoulder. He also remembered that he had been forced to swap vehicles half way through his trip home; the effects of the drug they had given him had been wearing off by then. At one point between the two vehicles, he could remember being pushed harshly and clumsily to the left; he could have sworn that he had brushed past someone being pulled in the opposite direction… but that was ridiculous. Nothing else really came to mind except… 

There was the scent of vanilla; he remembered that detail with perfect clarity. He hadn’t smelled it when he had first been pulled out of the car, but he had caught it while he had been walking between the vehicles. He had to admit that it seemed insignificant in the bigger picture, but it still was bothering him, even now.

It didn’t help that Chloe and Bart were now acting really strange. He thought that it had been due to him being kidnapped, but as the days went by, they were becoming more and more hushed around him… especially when he entered a room; when Chloe’s cell rang he could clearly see the panic in their expressions. 

Everyone else was oblivious to it, but he knew something wasn’t right, and whatever it was would soon come to light – he just had to be patient. 

***

A tall man stood motionless, watching Buffy through the one way glass, her body was sprawled across the cot; a smile danced on his lips for the briefest moment. The only evidence of their previous experiment was the dried blood caked to her face and arms; the wounds had healed completely whilst she slept. 

She had put up more of a fight this time around, taking out five of his men before they were able to knock her out. He was glad he had used human guards rather than demons, as he knew they would have been cleaning up more than just blood from the corridors if he had. If one thing he had learned from his previous dealings with a slayer, they didn’t kill humans. Demons, on the other hand, were fair game. 

He hadn’t quite been able to believe his ears when _the_ Buffy Summers had practically offered herself to him on a plate… who was he to deny her that? Now, after seeing her in action again, he couldn’t deny that she was truly magnificent, a perfect specimen for what he had planned; even more perfect than their original choice. 

Finding out she was married to Oliver Queen had been of no use to him; his partner, however, had been more than happy with that snippet of information. 

With his eyes and thoughts concentrating on Buffy, he didn’t realise his partner was standing beside him until he spoke. 

“How is our subject?”

He was startled briefly but composed himself quickly. “Excellent!” he answered. “Her surface wounds have completely healed. We won’t know more until she wakes up. We have increased her dosage again as her body seems to be burning through it. I figured this would happen, but the more we give her, the longer it is taking for her body to reject it.”

“Triple the dosage. I want to see what she can do.”

“As you wish,” he nodded. 

He pressed the button to turn on the speaker system.

***

“Wakey, wakey, it’s time to get up.” 

Buffy slowly opened her eyes but reeled as the harsh light blinded her. 

Throwing her arm up to shield her eyes, she turned her body to face the wall, the cot creaking as she shifted her weight. As her eyes began to adjust, she could make out that she was back in her cell; her home for the last day or so. The cell was barely six foot across and was comprised of four walls, one of which housed a metal door and another which was covered by a huge mirror from floor to ceiling. She knew that whoever had taken her stood behind it, watching her… assessing everything she did.

The voice she could hear filtered into the room through various mesh speakers built into the walls.

“Now, now, we don’t want to begin today as we did yesterday… do we?”

Buffy squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block the images and feelings that were now forcing their way through; the screams… the torture… the beatings. 

“Mrs. Queen,” the voice warned.

“I’m up,” Buffy growled through gritted teeth. “Give a girl a minute… and it’s Buffy by the way.”

She turned back around and slowly eased herself up from the cot, hissing in pain as she stood up straight. She curled her hand into a fist and forced it to stay by her side; she didn’t want her captors to see she was in pain.

“You truly are remarkable… not a single mark on your skin after what you went through yesterday,” the electronic voice buzzed through the speakers. 

Buffy couldn’t tell whether they were male or female or even if it was just one person; all she heard was that same monotone digital voice. 

“And I bet that your ribs are just bruised now?” The voice continued. “Yet when we dumped you back in there yesterday, they were most definitely broken… yes, quite remarkable!”

“Well, look who’s gonna get a gold star in science class,” Buffy quipped. She hid her fear, knowing they would use it against her; she just didn’t want to go back to the white room again. The last time she ended up in there she had been sick for hours. She knew the changes she was feeling within herself, her strength increase and rapid healing were all due to her time spent in that room; they were experimenting on her, testing her limits to see how much damage she could endure and how quickly she healed. And they hadn’t yet shown any indication of restraint… she had no idea how far they may be willing to go with their tests, and that worried her.

“It’s nice to see you haven’t lost your sense of humour. Are you ready for what we have in store for you today?” the voice asked. 

“I’m so excited, I could die,” Buffy drawled.

“Let’s hope not, we still have so many fun things planned for you.”

“Oh goodie,” she sighed.

***

“I don’t think I can do this, ‘Licious,” Bart whispered to Chloe, his eyes darting around Watchtower. “Every time he asks about what happened, I’m finding it harder to lie. He deserves to know what really happened.”

Chloe stopped typing and sighed; she couldn’t help but agree with him.

She had breathed a sigh of relief when Oliver had turned up at Watchtower an hour after Buffy’s departure, but it was short lived as the gravity of what had happened played on her mind; she knew it had been playing on Bart’s, too. They hadn’t wanted to openly lie to Oliver about how they got him back, but they knew they couldn’t tell him the truth; they had told Buffy they wouldn’t, but now she’d been missing for three days and they were no closer than when Oliver had been taken. 

To make matters worse, she had been snapping at everyone and she knew they were wondering what was going on. Bart, however, wasn’t any better. He had taken to staying away for longer periods and doing extra solo missions so he that he didn’t have to spend a lot of time around any of them, especially Oliver; she didn’t think he was going to last much longer. She knew Bart hated keeping something like this a secret but she was keeping her hopes up that Willow and the rest of the slayers would find out something, and soon. 

“I know, but if we tell him now, he’s going to want answers and at this moment in time, I don’t have any.”

“Nothing? It’s been three days!!”

“I know, Bart!” Chloe snapped at him. Bart jumped back in shock at Chloe’s outburst. She immediately looked apologetic. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to shout. It’s just… “Taking a deep breath, she continued. “I haven’t heard from Willow since I called her, and I’m thinking something bad has happened.”

Bart looked down, nodding his head. “I think so, too… but that’s exactly why we need to tell him.”

“I will, just give me some more time,” she sighed.

“I think he knows something,” Bart warned. 

“No, he knows something isn’t right, but he doesn’t know what… and we are going to keep it that way.”

“Yeah, but what if the other…” Bart stopped talking as he saw Oliver walk past them. “…slayers can’t find her either? What do we do then?” he finished, after they had made sure Oliver was well out of earshot.

“I’m hoping that it won’t come to that.”

“But if it does?” Bart asked.

“We can’t let it!” she said sternly.

“Hey, I’m ordering pizza. I know I don’t need to ask if you’ll be having any, Bart… Chloe, you want any?” Oliver asked, coming around the corner into the comm room. 

Bart and Chloe jumped at the sound of Oliver’s voice. Chloe would have let out a squeak of surprise if her heart wasn’t in her throat. _What did he hear?_

Bart shook his head. “You know, I’m not actually that hungry.” 

Oliver looked at Bart in shock; Bart was _always_ hungry. “Are you feeling alright?” 

“Isn’t he funny?” Chloe laughed. She turned her back to Oliver and glared at Bart. “Bart, you are always up for pizza, aren’t you?” 

Bart widened his eyes in realisation. “Oh yeah,” he coughed. “Yeah, I was only kidding, Ollie. I can’t believe you fell for that.”

Oliver raised his eyebrow at Chloe and Bart in suspicion. “Ok, that’s it!” He crossed his arms. “What’s going on?”

“Why would you ask that?” Chloe asked, her voice rising. “Everything’s fine.” 

“You two have been acting weird since I got back, so don’t try to tell me that it’s nothing,” Oliver glared at both of them.

Chloe could see small beads of sweat forming on Bart’s forehead. It was only a matter of time now before he talked, especially now that they knew Oliver had cottoned on that something was wrong.

“Ollie…” she began but was cut off by her cell’s ringtone. “I need to get that.” She picked it up and looked at the caller ID. It was Willow. She looked up at Bart, alarm in her eyes. 

“Hey, how about that pizza? I’m wasting away here,” Bart jumped in, leading Oliver away from the comm room to allow Chloe to answer her cell. He knew from the look she had given him that it was news; good or bad, he didn’t know. 

Oliver knew that something was going on, but the look on Chloe’s face when cell rang made it abundantly clear that whatever it was wasn’t good and that right now they didn’t want him involved.. Rather than making his move before he knew where all the pieces were, he allowed Bart to lead him away. 

When Bart had Oliver as far away as he could get him, Chloe answered her cell. “Hello?”

“Chloe?” Willow asked.

“Yes, it’s me. Is there any news?”

“Nothing! And I’ve tried everything to find something, but I’m coming up blank. No matter where I look, she just isn’t there. It’s as if she just vanished.”

“Do you think she could be…?” Chloe couldn’t bear to finish her sentence. She had been forcing herself to not think the worst, but it was getting harder as the days went by and almost impossible with Willow’s news. 

“By what you told me, whoever has Buffy didn’t sound as though they wanted her dead. No, I think whoever has her wants her for something, and they are keeping her hidden with very strong magic, strong enough to hide her from me.”

“What happens now?”

“We’ll keep trying, Chloe. We aren’t giving up.”

“I know, but is there anything Bart or I can do? We’d really like to help,” Chloe pleaded.

“You’ve already done what Buffy asked by calling us. We want to involve as few people as possible so that the rest of the slayers and the Council don’t get wind of Buffy’s disappearance.”

“You haven’t told them?”

“Are you kidding me? You don’t want them to know just yet, believe me. Faith and I are the only ones who know, and we are planning to keep it that way.”

“What do we do?”

“You keep quiet, and I’ll let you know if we find anything.” Willow paused a moment. “You haven’t told him, have you?”

“No,” Chloe said, vehemently shaking her head. She stopped, however, realising Willow couldn’t see her. Then she frowned. “Not yet anyway. If it was only me who knew, then I could handle it, but I’m worried about Bart. If we don’t find out something soon, I think he may have a nervous breakdown.”

“I’m sorry, Chloe. I wish Buffy could have come back for better reasons.”

Chloe bit her lip. “Me, too.”

She could still remember the day everything had fallen apart; it wasn’t everyday somebody close to you admitted that not only were there vampires, demons and all sorts of supernatural beings out there, but that she had been fighting them for most of her life. 

It had been hard to believe at first, but after Buffy left and Oliver had shut himself away from the world, Chloe had decided to find out as much as she could. It had taken longer than she expected, but after much perseverance she had hacked into the Council’s files; she had downloaded the whole database and spent the next couple of days reading about the life of Buffy Summers and her friends. 

“She was happier in Metropolis,” Willow admitted. “After all those years travelling, she had finally found a new place to call home.”

“If she was happy, then why did she leave? Why didn’t she stay and try to work things out?” Chloe asked.

Chloe heard Willow sigh. “You make it seem as though it was easy for her to leave all of you, to leave Oliver,” the witch replied, the reprimand in her voice barely perceptible. “It nearly killed her… I, for one, know she has regretted her decision every single day, but you have to realise, Chloe, there were two people in that marriage. Buffy may have left, but Oliver let her go.”

Chloe gasped as realisation took hold. It hadn’t just been Oliver; not one of them had asked Buffy to stay – they had all let her leave. Chloe had never felt so guilty.

“Look, regardless of what happened in the past, we need to keep our heads on the situation at hand,” Willow said, regaining control of the conversation.

Chloe wiped her eyes to stop the tears that were forming from falling. “We need to find her.” 

A noise behind her caused her to turn back towards the door—only to see Oliver standing there, watching her intently. 

“I have to go,” she said hurriedly into her cell.

“Don’t worry, Chloe. We’ll find her,” Willow promised, and the line went silent.  
  


End file.
